Validation of Wind Speed Calculated on Satellite Altimetry Data by Measurements on Weather Stations Located Along the White Sea Coast

Abstract

The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located in the northwest of European Russia. Winds are predominantly southwestern in winter with speeds of 4–8 m/s. Arctic anticyclones can change winds to the northeastern ones. The consistency between satellite altimeter derived wind speed and measurements on coastal stations of the White Sea was checked in the present study. For different parts of the coastal zone, satellites tracks were chosen to be located close to the weather station (within 10-20 km). Then, for every cycle of the selected satellite passes, corresponding values of satellite derived wind speed together with corresponding time (UT) were selected. In-situ wind speed data for the time nearest to the satellite pass were picked up from the databases collected at coastal weather stations. For the comparative analysis, five weather stations on the White Sea coast and tracks of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1/2/3 satellites were selected. Improvement in correlation between meteo and altimeter data on wind speed can be obtained when using method of decomposition of the winds in four quadrants according to wind direction relative to local coastline orientation.